


King of Bones

by americaninja



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Nonbinary My Unit | Byleth, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:13:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21634207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americaninja/pseuds/americaninja
Summary: Felix watches Dimitri slip into madness.
Kudos: 13





	King of Bones

**Author's Note:**

> Now that I've finally gotten into the war phase of the Blue Lions route, I felt a little inspired. 
> 
> The title comes from [King of Bones](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_6aJtE1b8c) by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, but the lyrics don't really fit? Good song though, and it was inspiration enough, so hey.
> 
> The pre-timeskip part takes place during the Chapter 11 mission (Throne of Knowledge), and the post-timeskip part takes place during Chapter 13 (Reunion at Dawn, Azure Moon).

Dimitri’s cold, shrieking laughter rang out through the Holy Tomb, and Felix felt a jolt of pure fear race down his spine. His sword, still slick with Imperial blood, quivered in his hand as he watched Dimitri.

“Is this some kind of twisted  _ joke _ ?” he cried. He stormed forward, crushing the Flame Emperor’s mask under his boot. A worried Byleth reached out, but he pushed their hand off and kept going. Edelgard merely stared him down, hunching her shoulders in a ready stance.

Dimitri said something else, but Felix couldn’t discern it; all he registered from Dimitri’s mouth was a buzzing, like that of an angered wasp. Then Dimitri broke into a run. The Imperial soldiers around Edelgard charged him to no avail; they were knocked aside with the force of a hurricane, that freak strength of Dimitri’s propelling them away. He hurled his lance, and Felix saw Edelgard’s eyes widen and her mouth open in a gasp. She managed to move her head to the side just enough that the lance didn’t pierce her skull, but it was a close shave.

The soldiers kept coming, but they were no match for Dimitri. He slammed one into the ground with a crash, then caught another who tried to charge from the side and crushed his neck. Felix’s grip on his sword tightened, but he couldn’t stop his hand from shaking. He looked to his left and saw Annette, hands over her mouth and tears falling from her wide, terrified eyes. He looked to his right and saw Dedue, eyes closed and head bowed slightly in… shame? Fear? Tacit approval? Ahead of him, Byleth watched with confusion and shock, their mouth agape. The Sword of the Creator had fallen from their hand and lay on the ground, wriggling slightly.

Realizing Dimitri was steps away from demolishing her, Edelgard called out for Hubert. He appeared by her side, a slight smirk on his gaunt face, and he teleported both of them away. With the target of his rage gone, Dimitri paused and took a few heavy breaths before he turned to face the Lions. His face was spattered with blood, and his eyes were dull and devoid of life, but it was his joyless, wrathful smile that scared Felix most of all. It cut through him more sharply than any dying scream could.

Finally, his classmates saw the truth of the boar prince, but he could feel no satisfaction in the reveal. He only felt a powerful loathing welling up in his chest.

Rhea was howling about heresy and insolence, but Felix couldn’t care less. As Dimitri stalked towards the Lions, he locked eyes with Felix, and that smile, already so hideously wide, somehow split his face even further. Felix straightened up and returned the boar’s gaze, sneering at him.

Thankfully, before Dimitri could get any closer, Byleth came up behind him, put a hand on his shoulder, and squeezed firmly. Dimitri’s smile faded to a thin line that quirked up at the ends, and he allowed Byleth to push him towards the exit of the Holy Tomb. As he walked, he suddenly looked around wildly at his classmates and roared, “This isn’t over! She will die for what she did, I promise you that!” He burst into shrieking laughter again as he and Byleth ascended the stairs. Rhea and the knights followed, leaving the Lions alone.

A ghostly silence descended on the tomb. Everyone looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Felix looked down at the Crest Stone he had recovered in his left hand. He clenched it tightly, wishing he could crush it. Instead, he flicked his blade, creating an arc of blood on the floor, and stormed up the stairs. Halfway up, he stopped, realizing everyone else was still frozen, and turned to snap, “What? You’re  _ surprised  _ to see the real him? Please. Better get over yourselves now, because he won’t wait for you. Now come on!” Then he left.

\---

Felix entered the cathedral and looked around. It was mostly intact, but part of the roof had collapsed, leaving a large pile of rubble where the altar had stood five years ago. Standing in front of the rubble, looking at nothing in particular, was the boar. 

Felix hesitated for a moment. He’d seen the way Dimitri had dealt with the thieves not a week ago. His form was brutal, violent, and reckless, and the things Felix had heard him screaming as he battled were even more unsettling. Clearly, five years of exile and solitude had taken a toll on him.

“What do you want?” Dimitri suddenly spat without turning. Felix started. He didn’t realize Dimitri had heard him come in. Quickly, though, he composed himself and approached a few steps.

“I wanted to get a better look at you, boar. Goddess knows you’re a damnable wreck. Are you happy with what you’ve become?” Felix said. He could feel the heat rising in his chest with every word.

“Shut up,” Dimitri growled. He still refused to turn.

“No. We’ve--  _ I’ve _ been looking for you for five years, and this is what I get? This is what you’ve become? A roving destroyer, a wild slaughterer of men? No better than the Empire, in your own special way?” Felix hissed as he took a few more steps.

“Hmph. It’s what they deserve. What  _ I  _ deserve,” Dimitri said. Still,  _ still _ , he refused to turn. Felix felt his blood boil.

“FACE ME WHEN I TALK TO YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” he roared. He strode forward, grabbed Dimitri by the cape, and yanked him around so he could look,  _ really _ look, into the boar’s face. The bottom dropped out of his stomach. 

Dimitri’s face was young, but his remaining eye was impossibly old, with dark circles accentuating an unfathomable emptiness in it. His hair was lank and hung in strands, partially covering his eyepatch. He shrank back slightly into the large fur collar of his cape, but the sneer across his face was unmistakable as he fixed Felix with a burning stare. He let out a low chuckle. “A damnable wreck, you called me? I suppose I am.” 

Felix felt sweat bead on the back of his neck. Nevertheless, he let go of Dimitri’s cape and returned the gaze with just as much force. “Yes. You are. What the hell happened to you? I-- you lost an  _ eye _ . How did you do that?”

Dimitri’s gaze flickered away from a moment. “Reckless. I was reckless. Who cares.”

Felix let out a frustrated growl before he reminded himself that a missing eye was the least of his concerns. “Why weren’t you... there for us? For your  _ kingdom _ ? You’re the prince! Why didn’t you try to take back Fhirdiad?”

“It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except Edelgard. I won’t rest until every Imperial is dead and her head is on my lance. Then maybe I can take back Faerghus. But not until then,” Dimitri said.

Felix’s hands clenched into fists. He had to restrain himself from slamming them into Dimitri’s jaw. “You’re  _ pathetic _ . You’re  _ nothing _ . You’re a  _ failure _ . You’re just a king of bones. Your subjects are dead or under the Empire’s thumb, and you did nothing. Know this. I will be there beside you every step of the way. Not because you deserve it, but because our professor is here again, and they believe in you for some forsaken reason. I will stay because they stay. Nor will I waste the effort I put into finding you. But you better shape the  _ fuck  _ up, you understand? Get your revenge, I don’t care. Just don’t drag us all down with you.”

Dimitri snarled and reached out to strike Felix, but he grabbed the boar’s hand and threw it aside. He let out a disdainful laugh before walking away. Dimitri made no move to follow him.

As Felix left the cathedral, he heard a furious roar that echoed off the walls.  _ Good _ , he thought.  _ Maybe it’s getting to him. _

Loath as Dimitri was to admit it, Felix had a point.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
